Warren girls, boys in district soccer championship matches Saturday

October 26, 2012

VINCENT - Warren could double its pleasure with a couple of wins on the pitch Saturday.

At 10 a.m., the No. 3-seeded Lady Warrior soccer team is scheduled to play top-seeded Hillsboro (16-1-1)in an Ohio Division 2 district tournament final at Jackson High's Holzer Field in Alumni Stadium.

"Hillsboro's a decent team," said Warren girls' coach Ekrem Eksi. "It's going to be a good game.

Article Photos

Times file photoParkersburg's Raemy Conley (11) plays the ball away from the defense of Warren's Addie Barnes (2) during the first half of a soccer match at the Warren soccer complex last season. The Lady Warriors play in a district final this Saturday.

Greyson Cantley

"It's going to be different playing in the morning, but it will be different for (Hillsboro), too."

In the afternoon at 4 p.m. over at Lucasville Valley High, the Warren boys' booters (13-2-4) will be seeking a repeat as district champions when they square off against Waverly.

Last year, the Warriors beat the Tigers in the district final.

The Warren ladies (12-1-5) advanced to the district title match with a 4-1 triumph over No. 2 seeded Chillicothe Unioto (14-4) Tuesday night. Raelyn Gardner paced the royal blue and white with two first-half goals. Melissa Dickerson added a penalty kick conversion, and freshman Raeli Barnes had a late second-half score.

"We played well against Unioto," Eksi said. "It was probably the best game we've played this year."

On the season, Dickerson, an All-Ohio honoree as a junior last year, has a team-high 18 goals and 17 assists. Barnes is next with 14 goals and eight assists while Gardner has 13 goals and three assists. Mackenzie Ullman has nine goals and two assists this fall.

All four recently made the All-Southeastern Ohio Athletic League (SEOAL) girls soccer team with Dickerson also being honored as the Player of the Year.

Lady Warrior senior defender Addie Barnes also made the squad.

Warren's Natalie O'Dell and Jordanna Rauch each was a SEOAL honorable mention, and Eksi was Co-coach of the Year.

This past season, the Warren girls' soccer program claimed its first SEOAL title and with the win against Unioto, its first district match.

The other probable Lady Warrior starters in the district tilt could be keeper Janelle Barth, Lara Eksi, Emma Yabs, and either Marissa O'Callaghan or Halee McPherson.

Leslie Molen-coached Hillsboro got to the championship match with a 4-0 blanking of Circleville Logan Elm, also on Tuesday. The Lady Indians were led by Trista Rhodes, who notched a hat trick.

The Andrew Johnson-coached Warren boys punched their ticket to the final with a convincing 4-0 shut out of Fairfield Union in a district semi on Wednesday night. That same evening, Chris Williamson-led Waverly (16-2) blanked Circleville, 2-0.

Pacing the Warriors in the semi was Greyson Cantley, who tallied two goals, one off a corner kick by Evan Yabs.

Seth Hall, a freshman, added a PK conversion, and Eli Duff had a second-half score. Duff leads the team with 15 goals on the season.

Nick Koch is second on the squad in scoring with 10 goals. He was also recently named the SEOAL Player of the Year for the second straight season.

Also honored as all-league players were Ty Kroner, Alex Miller, Aaron Mazurkiewicz, and Yabs. Wyatt Lynch and Duff both were honorable mention.

Johnson was Co-coach of the Year for the second consecutive year.

Warren keeper Cody Stanley, who was credited with a clean sheet in the win against Fairfield Union, is again expected to start between the pipes.

Some other Warrior starters could be Ben Koch, Sam Goodman, Nick Robinson, Nathan Robinson, or Hall.